Exodus 17:8–16 (NKJV)

Then Amalek came and fought with Israel at Rephidim. So Moses said to Joshua, “Choose for us men, and go out and fight with Amalek. Tomorrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the staff of God in my hand.” So Joshua did as Moses told him, and fought with Amalek, while Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. Whenever Moses held up his hand, Israel prevailed, and whenever he lowered his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses' hands grew weary, so they took a stone and put it under him, and he sat on it, while Aaron and Hur held up his hands, one on one side, and the other on the other side. So his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua overwhelmed Amalek and his people with the sword.

Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this as a memorial in a book and recite it in the ears of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.” And Moses built an altar and called the name of it, The LORD Is My Banner, saying, “A hand upon the throne of the LORD! The LORD will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.”

Notice that God didn’t tell Moses to hold the staff up; it’s his own idea. All the other times that Moses used the staff to perform miracles, he was following God’s specific instructions.

So, what’s he thinking this time? Moses doesn’t predict anything about the effect of holding the staff up. That hints that he doesn’t know what will happen next. As an old man, his role is not to wield a sword. It sounds like this is the best he could come up with.

But it turns out to be a great idea. Holding the staff up is much more than symbolic; its impact is total. So, guess what God does next? He tramples Moses’s ego. Moses can’t perform the simple task of holding up the staff. As brilliant and effective as Moses’s idea is, he still ends up depending on others. This is the perfect setup for what will happen next – Jethro calling him out for not delegating.

Moses is about to get a crash course in humility. After all the hyper-humble whining when he argued with the burning bush, the pendulum has swung the other way. He’s in danger of becoming full of himself.

This will be a recurring theme.

People are “glory stealers.” We bask in glory that is not ours. This is particularly bad with prayer. When God grants a prayer request, do you want others to know that you prayed for that? I do.

If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you. – John 15:7 (NKJV)

This is complicated because answered prayer should be shared – that glorifies God – but at the same time wanting to be known for having effective prayers is poisonously prideful. How can we avoid that?

John 15:7 says that “abiding” Christians get their requests granted. It does not say that everyone else’s prayers get denied. God can grant anyone’s prayers. You can’t take credit. Just thank and glorify Him.

The weekly study guides, which include discussion questions, are available for download here:

https://www.ailbe.org/resources/itemlist/category/91-deep-studies